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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 1879)
Docembei, 1879. That a young virgin should by di vine interposition give birth to the iMiit- 01 iiethiehem, seems to have been a sufficient license for a thousand inven tions of the wildest fancy, and many are the simple and amusing tales gleaned from the unscrupulous story tellers of the earlier and succeeding age. A popular tradition has it that Jesus was born in the middle of the night, and that an ox and an ass, in the stable with Joseph and Mary, fell upon their knees when the heavenly babe first opened it eyes. This, of course, is ubundant authority for the the belief so prevalent in England and many parts of the United States, that oxen in the stable may be found in a devotional attitude at 12 o'clock on Christmas eve. , It is said that, for many years, a liawthorne of great age, in the churchyard of Glastonbury Abbey, regularly budded on the 34th of He- ember and blossomed in full on the following day. After the reformation 11C the Julian calendar and the adoption of the new style in England, this haw thorn bloomed on the fifth of January, answering to Christmas day, old style. And now comes the romantic story "I a nobleman in Flanders. This gen tleman had three daughters of passing beauty and loveliness. Their spotless purity in thought, word and deed was proverbial throughout the country, but when they grew up to the estate of womanhood, the father was unable to give them marriage portions on ac ii'iint of a sudden and sweeping re ersc of fortune. For young women, in those days not to marry and bear ehildren was little short of contumely, and the thought of it was dreaded by every maiden. Driven to desperation, he nobleman, now a licggar, basely pioM)sed to his sorrowing daughters that they should adopt the profession of Cyprians; a proposition which was instantly and proudly declined. One evening, while the beautiful sitters were in their lonely chamber, bitterly licmoaning in each other's arms their double adversity of poverty and the world's calumny, the ever ubiquitous St. Nicholas caused three purses of gold to be tossed in their latticed window, and thus were they enabled to lie hon orably ai d h ppily married. Ever after this St. Nicholas was deemed the patron of young girls, and the legend THE WEST SHORE. sufficiently explains the fancy of bride-1 maids (tatting mnr., 0f wedding cake, rings, and other charms under their pillow, repeating, as they step into bed, such sentiments as the fob lowing: "Tk ray rotWt boos to-night And show to nit my httrt'i dtllfht; White tbt turn of midnifht Wt, Ltt mt nt htm in ay dratm ." Finally, we must tell the children how good St. Nicholas also became their munificent patron. "Once upon a time," then, as the story opens, during a great dearth of food all over Europe, this pious man was traveling in Eng land, and stopped at an oliseurc, way side inn for a meal of victuals. He was hungry and faint, and a trencher of tender, savory meats was set lieforc him. Suspecting that all was not right with the dish, he went to a great tub that stood in a dark coi ner of the room and discovered in the lmttom the bod ies of three murdered children packed in salt. Nothing daunted, the Saint made the sign of the cross over them and the children were instantly brought to life, much to the fright and and horror of the wicked inn-keejier. Henceforth, St. Nicholas was rever enced by all good ehildren and it has been permitted them to invoke his bounty on Christmas eve by hanging their stockings under the mantel of the fire-place. Hut we cannot longer dilate, to all our readers young and old, we send greeting, fresh and warm from our heart, that eheery and sparkling saluta tion of the season, a Mrhiiv, Mknhv ClIRISTMAS. HAI'I'Y NEW YEAR. Often as these pleasant words arr tossed from the hp of lover, rrlative and friend, we seriously doulrt whether all who give them utterance ever .top to consider their real import. While the simple tranil of three hundred ami sixty-five day may lie a .mail matter to each individual who plays his part in the great commonwealth of the world, how momentous its details when taken in connection with the sum total that comprehend the com bined interest of the human race. It ha been estimated that our neat cenu will fix the population of the United State at about forty million, j Thi i a vast number of people, and I quite enough to Uxk retpectabla lit- 355 tie world of itself; ami yet, on the s. wmpttan liiat one death ocrur at every tick of the clock that bear m seconds-besting pendulum, more than seventeen millions of human beings, 01 a number cquiil to nearly one half of our population have passed away dur ing the twelve month represented by the denomination of the year 1X7), All these person have received a final ills charge from the wsr of lift., and gone each to hi allotted niche In the slmd owy realm of oblivion, there to rest until the sea shall give up it. d i, and the earth, pregnant with the graves of a thoutand generations, .hull yield to the quickening pirit of Om nipotencc, the reanimated dual human Ity. And now we may very soon look lot the uusl list of the " Eminent dead of the year," the printing of which is a custom beautiful in it conception and, so far a wo know, peculiar to Amen can newspaper. The history ot ilir pasting year lib open before 111, free to the perusal of all who have .1 mind to scan its freshly written agr; that of the incoming yesr, hovvn. i, wli.wc gladsome event we fain would honor with song and dance, Congratulation ami good enter, I a volume fast scaled, as yet, and only in the fullm. of tunc shall we lie permitted to read Its sol emn array of collated entries. It may not be generally known dial ''New Years," as a day of festivity, dales back long prior in the Christum era. Such it lite fact, however. Jariu., the reputed gate-keeper of heaven, In Heathen Mythology, wa charged with the business of u.lieriiig In Ilir opening year, ami, a a hiuI looks two way, o was be represented with two face, strikingly typical ! ibr mi and 1 ut me. It was in honor of Jmnm that the month of January wo 0H allrd, ami hence by an easy transition, i,r Koman pawl homage to thi giJ on the ' 'aleml of January," 111 w liu b all took an active part, the nobiliiv a well at the plebeian and slaves. l, tracing Koman history to a remote antupiitv, we find that these celebration were blended with the SmlmrmttlU which took place on the last days at Decern lier, mention of the latter festival, lie ing made o early a the age of Tar quiniu Superbu, or about y year before Christ. ( From Rums, the eiMom of celabrs-